Intestacy rules

The intestacy rules are the statutory order determining who inherits when a person dies without a valid will. In England and Wales they come from the Administration of Estates Act 1925 as amended, and they apply mechanically — regardless of what the deceased would have wanted, said, or written down informally.

The order in England and Wales#

Spouse or civil partner, no children. The spouse takes everything.

Spouse or civil partner with children. The spouse takes the personal chattels, a statutory legacy of £322,000, and half of anything above that. The children share the other half.

No spouse. The estate passes down a fixed order: children; then parents; then brothers and sisters of the whole blood; then half blood; then grandparents; then uncles and aunts. Each class must be exhausted before the next takes anything.

Nobody in any class. The estate passes to the Crown as bona vacantia.

The three things clients get wrong#

Unmarried partners inherit nothing. Not a reduced share — nothing, however long the relationship and whatever the couple called themselves. "Common law marriage" does not exist in English law. This is by a wide margin the most damaging misunderstanding in this field, and the most common reason a family ends up in a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

Stepchildren inherit nothing unless legally adopted.

A spouse does not automatically get everything. Where there are children and the estate exceeds the statutory legacy, it is split — which can force the sale of a family home to pay the children's share.

Scotland is different#

Scotland has its own regime, including legal rights which entitle a spouse and children to a share of the moveable estate that cannot be defeated by a will. Do not apply English rules north of the border.

Related#

Residuary estate · Probate · What is estate planning?